


'cause you cut through all the noise

by stariousfalls



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Fluff and Angst, Ford Pines and Mabel Pines Bonding, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Post-Weirdmageddon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26015089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stariousfalls/pseuds/stariousfalls
Summary: With everything all seemingly perfect now: Stan quickly regaining his memories, her grunkles having repaired their relationship, and Dipper not taking on the apprenticeship and going back with her to California at the end of the summer — it didn’t feel real. As much as she wanted everything to be as perfect as it appeared, there were several thoughts nagging at her in the back of her mind —Was any of this real? Was her family’s happiness real? Was she still in the bubble? Everything was too impeccable like back in Mabeland — there was no way this could be real.
Relationships: Ford Pines & Mabel Pines
Comments: 6
Kudos: 110





	'cause you cut through all the noise

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a talk with a group of friends over Mabel having anxiety over still being in her bubble in Weirdmageddon, and Ford being there to help her through a panic attack.

It was nights like these that Mabel couldn’t help but reflect – the ones where she couldn’t fall into deep slumber. Before their long-lost family member appeared abruptly into their lives, the young Pines twin had no worries or uncertainties. She was able to sleep peacefully; dreaming about nothing but adventures with her brother, and precious time spent with her friends and family.

The atmosphere changed as soon as her long lost great uncle appeared from a multi-dimensional machine that promised terrible destruction upon their reality. The portal didn’t tear their dimension apart, but it surely tore their family dynamic apart. Mabel noticed the tension right away between her great uncles, despite trying to be an optimist about a long-lost addition to the family. Who knew that broken family relationships would ultimately be the downfall of the lives they once knew?

Mabel glanced over to find her brother snoring soundly – an arm wrapped around her pet pig whilst drooling on his pillow. She couldn’t help but shake her head with a soft smile. Normally their roles of sleep schedules are reversed, but due to Dipper’s exhaustion from Weirdmageddon he’d been out like a light each night as soon as his head hit the pillow. He deserved the rest, after overhearing he’d been out on his own trying to survive the apocalypse for several days until he finally found her.

And released her from her bubble.

_The bubble._

Mabel shivered, and curled into herself. As soon as things returned to normal the idea of her still being in her bubble nagged at her. Bill had the power to create and tear down her world inside the bubble – couldn’t he have just as easily made a more realistic world for her? A world where everyone was happy and there were no bright colors, and unrealistic creations in it? A world where everything was the same as it were before everything went wrong. Except broken relationships were mended, and she didn’t have to worry about her future because her brother had decided to grow up alongside her.

It all seemed too perfect to her, and it made her feel uneasy. When the dread and restlessness grew to be too much for her to handle in the silence of the attic, she untangled herself from her blanket and slowly crept out of the room.

She figured a glass of water would suffice for the growing anxiety. She just needed to get out and _do something_ to get her mind off of things.

She made her way down to the kitchen, being mindful of the boards that creaked along the way. She didn’t want to risk waking either her brother or Stan. Her grunkle already had enough to deal with lately regarding his memories – she didn’t want to be a burden on him. Or her brother, for that matter. They’d suffered enough because of her.

Despite getting herself a glass, she still couldn’t bring herself to take a drink. Her small hands clasped tightly around the cup as the unwanted thoughts continued to fog her mind.

_Was Bill really gone? Or was this some sick manifestation preying on her in order to keep her trapped inside Bill’s prison?_

With everything all seemingly perfect now: Stan quickly regaining his memories, her grunkles having repaired their relationship, and Dipper not taking on the apprenticeship and going back with her to California at the end of the summer — _it didn’t feel real_. As much as she wanted everything to be as perfect as it appeared, there were several thoughts nagging at her in the back of her mind —

Was any of this real? Was her family’s happiness real? Was she still in the bubble? Everything was too impeccable like back in Mabeland — _there was no way this could be real._

The negative thoughts began to spiral in her mind, dragging her down into a state of panic. She felt guilt over being the bringer of the apocalypse. She felt guilt over being the cause of Stan’s memories being erased in the first place, despite they’d already resolved everything. She felt guilt over all of her friends and family suffering, because of her lack of judgement over giving a literal stranger something that belonged to her uncle.

Her mind didn’t even process that her glass of water slipped out of her sweaty fingers, shattering when it collided with the floor. Her body froze, and she just blankly stared ahead as her vision blurred.

Somehow everything was fine now? How long was she _really_ in her bubble living in fantasy while everyone else suffered? Was she still stuck in her world of fantasy? Did this mean Bill still had free reign over their world?

Mabel clutched her shaky hands over her chest, heart thumping sporadically. The fear became too much for her to handle and she collapsed to the floor with a thud, vision disfiguring as if looking through a fish-eye lens. She felt dizzy and sick to her stomach.

Despite disassociating and falling into a pool apprehension, she fretfully hoped that the commotion didn’t stir anyone else in the shack. The last thing she wanted was to give her family a scare. This would pass. _Eventually_ , she hoped.

Mabel’s chest tightened and she whimpered in pain and fear. She assumed the worst when she felt limbs going numb and began to sob uncontrollably.

_Was she going to die? Was she having a heart attack? Was this what they felt like? Could she even be having one at this age?_

She wished the floor would just swallow her whole and take her out of this misery. She hated feeling like this and wanted everything to stop. She felt fear over still being a prisoner in the bubble. She felt fear over being a burden on her family. She even felt fear over her thoughts spiraling out of control, causing her body to shut down. She felt like everything was crushing down on her and Mabel had no idea how to get it to stop. 

Mabel was too immersed in her panic to even notice the sound of footsteps coming from the other room.

“Mabel?” A deep, concerned voice called nearby. Mabel recognized it as Ford’s.

Mabel couldn’t even form words in reply. All she could manage were shaky cries between the short and desperate breaths she took. She saw a tall figure rush to her side, reaching out towards her trembling form.

“Mabel!” Ford hovered a hand over her side, eyes full of concern. “Are you alright? What’s wrong?”

She could only softly wail, her heart rate accelerating. Of course, someone had to be awake to witness her breaking down. And it had to be the person who she considered foreign in her daily life.

_What did he truly think of her? Did his opinion of her change since he met her?_

Her grunkle had only began to open up more after Weirdmageddon came to an end and teetered towards people other than her brother. He’d started to repair the relationship between him and Stan, but that’d only made her feel even more left out. She felt guilty for even considering the thought, as Stan had been recovering from a _literal mind wipe_. At first, she was fine with being separated from her newest addition to the family (due to concerns from Stan), but once Dipper bonded with him, that’s when the family dynamic she knew and loved crumbled beneath her.

Over time there were times where she wished she were included in things, despite not being into the paranormal as much as Dipper was. She just wanted to be alongside her brother again, still doing monster hunts and other adventures across the mysterious town of Gravity Falls. She felt like she was suddenly replaced by someone better than her; someone who studied the things that Dipper immensely enjoyed and shared the same interests as well. Even though things were relatively back to normal, her bottled up feelings of hurt and betrayal were still _raw_ and manifesting inside of her.

The anxiety over whether or not Dipper truly was going to come back to California with her still lingered inside her. She would still be supportive of him no matter the decision he ultimately made – _she even told him so_ – but the thought of being abandoned still terrified her down to her core.

Maybe she truly deserved all the suffering, after everything that she caused.

Despite it being the family member she’d barely bonded with – deep down inside she was relieved she had someone to help her through…whatever this was. Did she need a doctor? Did she need to go to the hospital?

Maybe things would be better if the floor truly did swallow her whole and she suddenly disappeared from existence. That, or her pulsating heart gave out on her. If she were having a heart attack, perhaps she deserved it for all of these emotions and feelings that manifested inside of her.

The thoughts and emotions frantically running wild in her did nothing but escalate the discomfort she felt, contributing to acceleration of her heart rate and causing her to desperately hyperventilate to try and relieve the pain.

It didn’t take long for Ford to realize what was wrong while observing her – he knew this behavior all too well.

“Mabel? Is it okay for me to touch you? Or will it make things worse?”

Ford placed his hand on her shoulder when he saw a small nod of approval. He noticed Mabel didn’t flinch or retaliate to his touch of comfort, so he ran a hand through her hair to try and guide her through the panic attack.

“Mabel, it’s okay – I’m here. Everything’s fine. Is there anything you need me to do to help you calm down?”

“Grunkle Ford…what’s… _what’s happening to me?_ ” She cried between breaths. “Am I… _am I going to die?_ ”

_Oh_. He wasn’t sure whether this was a reoccurrence, or a first-time experience. Either way, she didn’t deserve an anxiety attack at such a young age. She didn’t deserve an anxiety attack throughout her entire lifetime. However, it daunted on him that there would be repercussions from experiencing all the trauma from an apocalypse. At least that’s what he assumed was the cause. He unfortunately didn’t know enough about Mabel to pinpoint an exact answer. He’d been so focused on getting Stanley’s memories back that he didn’t even consider the possibility of either of the kids being mentally affected by Weirdmageddon as well.

Luckily Bill Cipher had been taken care of, otherwise Ford would be coming in guns blazing at the thought of the demon causing his grandniece distress.

“It’s alright, Mabel.” He brushed the tears that tugged at the corners of her eyes. “You’re going to be okay – you’re just having a panic attack. I know you’re feeling scared and distressed right now, but I want you to just talk to me and let me know what’s going on, okay? Let me know what I can do to help you.”

_“How do I make it stop?”_

He took a deep breath. Watching someone he knew to be a literal ray of sunshine brought down to a state of dishevelment and misery broke his heart. It took all he had within him to not break down with her. He’d give anything to take the suffering away instantaneously.

So, he did what he could.

“Sweetheart, you’re going to have to take some deep breaths to help calm yourself down. Can you do that?”

She nodded.

Over the next few minutes Ford took the time to guide her through taking deep breaths, in hopes she’d calm down soon. And eventually she did, after some consoling words and more breathing exercises. She threw her hands around Ford as soon as she felt the agonizing weight of panic being lifted off of her.

Ford wrapped his arms tightly around his grandniece when he heard soft sniffles and cries.

He waited until she grew silent before asking –

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Ford felt her small hands clench at the back of his sweater. Another moment passed before she finally answered.

“I’m afraid of still being in the bubble.” She mumbled softly.

It took Ford a moment to remember the topic. He’d briefly overheard Dipper and Mabel talking about the prison that Bill had placed his grandniece in during Weirdmageddon. Apparently, the world was manifested to be a perfect world that Mabel would never want to leave, so it’d give Bill an advantage or she could’ve possibly been used as a bargaining chip.

Luckily, she’d escaped from the bubble with Dipper and the others, so they’d never find out the true intentions. He didn’t even want to consider what could’ve happened to her.

“Everything seems like it’s perfect and going too well, and I’m afraid of still being…stuck without the world even knowing it!” Mabel wailed, rubbing her face into his sweater to wipe away tears from her eyes. “I-I’m afraid that people are still suffering because of me – that you, Dipper, and Grunkle Stan are still out there trying to survive and I’m stuck in Mabeland!”

Mabel hiccupped before continuing.

“Is this _real?_ Are you really okay, Grunkle Ford? Is everyone else truly okay? Did we really defeat Bill? Or has Bill made me think that everything’s okay, and I’m just talking to fantasy versions of everyone?”

She spoke to him as if this were all an illusion – _as if he were an illusion_ – which heavily pulled at his heartstrings. He lightly pushed Mabel off of him to roll up his sleeves, revealing thick blistering skin around his wrists.

“Would I have these if you were still in the bubble?”

Mabel’s eyes widened at the sight.

Her hands shakily hovered over the burns and new scar tissue, hesitant to make contact with the injuries along his arms. Her heart sunk at the what could’ve possibly been the cause.

_Did Bill do this to him?_

Deep down inside she knew it was her. She was the initial cause. Even if she wasn’t the perpetrator, her past decisions that ultimately caused the apocalypse lead to Ford being tortured by the demon that tricked and manipulated her. 

She picked up on the darker complexion he had and the burnt off edges of his clothes when he materialized out of his golden encasement back in the fearamid. She knew Bill must’ve used some sort of torture tactics to get him to give in and elaborate over his secrets.

“It’s okay – you can examine them if you need the reassurance. Most of the injuries aren’t raw anymore and have started to heal.”

She lightly grazed the blistered skin – gasping in fear when she felt a flinch and heard a hiss of pain from her great uncle. She immediately pulled her hands back as if she were burned herself.

Mabel could already feel the tears materializing again, threatening to fall down her pale cheeks.

“It’s fine.” He reassured her through a groan.

Ford deemed it best to cover his wounds back up again after seeing his niece’s expression of concern and horror. Though the action did nothing to relax her bubbling feelings of dread and guilt.

Mabel wrapped her arms around herself, struggling to keep her composure.

“ _I’m **so sorry** , Grunkle Ford_.” She whispered sadly and broke down, completely unraveling in front of him.

The damn quickly broke and at the time Mabel thought she’d never stop. The guilt was too much for her heart to handle.

_I was the cause of this…I was the cause of this…I was the cause of everyone getting hurt and it’s all my fault –_

Ford placed a hand on her shoulder, interrupting her of her spiraling thoughts. “Mabel, don’t you _dare_ blame yourself for all of this. I made my own mistakes, even during Weirdmageddon.”

It’s as if he could hear what she was thinking.

“But…but Bill _hurt_ you because I gave him the – “

Ford shushed her with a brief gesture of a finger, shaking his head in disagreement. “I don’t want to end up making this about myself, but I made some mistakes that inadvertently caused this whole mess within our lives and family to happen. And I’ll take all these regrets to my grave, so you don’t have to.”

He sure as hell didn’t want this young grandniece of his to carry any mental baggage that was involuntarily caused by his own foolishness as a younger man. She had plenty of life to go through, and this should be the least of her worries. Mabel deserved to live as carefree of a life as possible, and he’d make sure to remind her of that for as long as he’s conceivably able to.

“That also includes the fact that I was too consumed by the idea of keeping everything to myself and not confiding in those who care about you.” Ford fondly stared off in the distance for moment, briefly reminiscing over past memories. “I did eventually confide in your brother, but what one of my main regrets right now is the fact that I neglected you.”

He sighed with a somber expression, avoiding eye contact with his grandniece.

“I was too caught up in feelings over past relationships and ended up projecting those feelings onto you and your brother, which is something that I never should’ve done.” He said softly, grimacing solemnly. “And I’ve realized now just how important it is for you and your brother to have each other throughout your adolescence. Whatever you and your brother decide to do down the line whenever the two of you graduate high school is your choice alone.”

She didn’t know how to initially react. The fact that her great uncle had admitted regrets over past things that she’d beaten herself up about definitely helped ease her mind. But she also sympathized with him as well. They both blamed themselves for mistakes they’ve made, and the fact that they were able to have a heart to heart over their troubles made her heart feel warm and full.

For the first time since their lives got thrown through a loop with Weirdmageddon, she finally felt at ease.

“It’s okay, Grunkle Ford,” Mabel piped in with smile. “You and Grunkle Stan were just going through some crazy sappy stuff and needed to hug it out. Dipper and I have had some rough patches, but we always make up and are there for each other in the end.”

Mabel reached out for her grunkle’s hands, grabbing his full attention. She glanced at him with loving and forgiving eyes, and at that moment Ford felt the daunting weight of guilt and discouragement lift immediately off his shoulders.

“You guys had a long overdue making up session, but I’m so happy to see you two stubborn old grumps finally getting close again.” She sneered, braces shining bright.

Her smile was contagious, and Ford couldn’t help but grin back at her.

She really was something special – he could see why Stanley was so attached to her. He could really see how attached his brother was to both of the kids, as they provided so much needed joy into his life since he came back. His heart had been nothing but a cold, empty void for several decades being left to fend for himself against the world (and the multiverse, for that matter), and the amount of love these kids had to spare made him really appreciate his brother for bringing him back.

He would be forever be grateful for the dedication and love his brother had for him throughout the years, despite their relationship growing sour since their youth. He hoped he could repay that kindness for the years to come as they rekindle their relationship once more.

But before continuing on with that –

“Do you still believe you’re still in the bubble? Or have I managed to convince you that everything is truly alright?” Ford asked, smile still present. “I assure you; we are no longer in a weird apocalypse, and you no longer have to worry about being trapped in that bubble. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure of that, as well as making sure that nothing hurts you or our family for as long as I’m here.”

Mabel could only shake her head in reply. Despite the circumstances, she was thankful that Ford had showed up to comfort her through her rough patch. She finally had a chance to start a bond with him, and she wasn’t going to let the lack of time left of the summer prevent her from building upon it.

“Anything you want to do before you go back to California next week? To try and make up for some lost time?” He suggested, enthusiastic to kindle a deeper relationship with his grandniece.

A resurgence of optimism blossomed in Mabel and she bounced happily on her grunkle’s lap, eager to share an idea with a wide grin.

“How do you feel about hand turkeys?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated. <3


End file.
